On the parking lot of Confederation Building in St.John's this morning, southern shore fisherman Rom Dalton was one of a couple of crab fishermen selling fresh crab as part of a symbolic protest over the ongoing price dispute in the crab fishery. Photo b

Several Newfoundland crab fishermen are staging a symbolic protest outside of Confederation Building in St. John's to highlight the crisis in the industry.
The harvesters, including Jim Chidley of Renews and Derek O'Brien of Cape Broyle, are from the inshore fleet of vessels smaller than 40 feet.
They started selling freshly landed crab this morning from a fish tub for $1.35 per pound.
That's the same price established last month by the province's fish price-setting panel.
Most producers have refused to pay that much, and the fishery, which employs roughly 20,000 people, remains in limbo.
Harvesters have been pleading with the provincial government to provide financing to help the fishery get started, and avoid a situation where producers dump their products into the market, which drives down raw material prices.
The province has refused, saying such action might violate trade laws, and only provide a short-term solution to the ongoing problems in the industry.
For more indepth coverage of this story, see Tuesday's edition of The Telegram.

On the parking lot of Confederation Building in St.John's this morning, southern shore fisherman Rom Dalton was one of a couple of crab fishermen selling fresh crab as part of a symbolic protest over the ongoing price dispute in the crab fishery. Photo b

hey andrew let the fishery die.Do you even know what you are talking about.20,000 people work in the fishery with bills and kids and houses to keep up.What people do not relize is that the fishery has been the leader in money generated in newfoundland for the last since newfoundland was found.Even with the bull that surrounds the fishery it still is one of newfoundlands money makers.Maybe we should put all the eggs in the oil industry so when that runs out goverment then might open their eye's.and most fisherman work after the fishing.And besides they pay in so why not get it back.Maybe you would like it better if 20,000 went on welfare and you can pay the bill

Richard

July 02, 2010 - 13:33

Here we go again with fisherman!Premier Williams needs to establish a Minister for Fishermen Handouts to handle this situation. For sure this minister would be extremely busy writing cheques because everyone knows fishermen are entitled to be paid by taxpayers when the fishery, EI or Workers Comp isn't.

It would be interesting to see how this income is reported on his books next year....hahahaha. The crab fishermen ruined themselves with the under the table bonuses and landing more than was reported and flooded the market....the processors were in on it too. I'm not saying all of them but it was a high percentage. Now the processors can't pay $1.35 for it because they can't sell it after it is processed. What a bunch!!!!

I'm curious....do the people who have issue with Fishermen getting EI also take issue with teachers receiving EI?

Newfoundlanders are the least supportive folk...to outsiders we talk big about our love of the rock, how we love our home, but to each other we talk each other down to the dirt. A lot of poor pitiful me, and shutting down our fellow man.

One of our biggest problems is that we don't take time to understand the issue before we cast our stones to condemn.

It is very sad to read comments from people who choose not to understand the fishery and the importance of it to this province. This is not an industry like others because it is so over regulated by Government that it does not allow for free enterprise. You would need to be interested enough to take the time and see what really goes on. Imagine being told you have to cut 6 inches of your boat to meet some stupid rule that governs you. Being told who to sell your product to limits your market. Fishermen pay for observers who board their boats and come out to watch them fish and have no choice about it. It isn't any ordinary business. However those who risk their lives ,do it with pride that comes from living on the water, from being a Newfoundlander. If Ottawa had not almost destroyed our industry and there is evidence in the Commons Fisheries Report of 1990 that documents bribery, mismanagement and called for removal of officals, then those Newfoundlanders that are so critical would be basking in the glory of it now. So do we destroy the rest of it. Danny Williams should not go down as the Premier that done nothing and fellow Newfounlanders should try explaining this to future generations when the oil is gone.

Why should government provide $, why don't the union provide what they are looking for!!!
Its's their union, the FFAW just bought and in process of renovating their own office building. What looks wrong with this picture. If i lost my job next week, its EI and i am then on my own, no one to look after me. Big union, big pay all from poor fisherman.

You know if the fishery is so bad and every year the fisherman have to face the same issues why do they stay in the industry? Answer.... It is a no lose proposition. In the good times you can make a small fortune for a few weeks work a year and then draw down UIC for the winter months and in the bad years you can bark and complain like they are now and expect the government to either support them or change the UI criteria to give them benefits for the next year. Look, the fishery is a private industry. It either swims or sinks on its own. The rest of the working class of this province is fed up with both the culture of entitlement of the fisherman and will not accept this bull any longer. If you can't make a living as you claim, go find a job that will support you don't look for handouts.

i got news for people that have no clue only what they hear on the news.I am a fisherman i never once looked for a handout to feed my kids.from the goverment or any1 elses pockets for that matter.and for the workin class of this great provience everyother day this 1 is on strike that one is on strike so it's not all fishery in newfoundland.i pay taxes probably more than most of the working public in newfoundland for that matter.maybe you should be talkin more about how many people in newfoundland that don't have a job and a program like welfare takes care of them to lazy to work in most cases.alot of taxes that are paid by fisherman keep that program going

Donny

July 02, 2010 - 13:30

Come on Marty, if this fishery does collapse you will have to put the wheels back on your house and take off for the mainland.

I drove to the Confederation Building to purchase crab this morning, I arrived around 10:30 and they were completely sold out.

The harvesters were apparently selling it for $1.35 per pound, I was quite willing to pay $2.00 per pound had I been able to purchase some. Two dollars ($2.00) per pound is the price, I understand, the fishers of the Maritimes are getting.

My question is why don't the harvesters sell a portion of their produce fresh to consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

At least we would be buying the fish at its freshest and much cheaper and, no doubt, purer than it would be if it were sent to China to be processed , in a country with 75 percent of its water polluted.

Not for the life of me do I understand why we aren't offered fresh fish?

I know several fishermen and women personally...they don't sit on their rumps all winter waiting for the EI cheques to roll in. They are mending pots and nets, preparing boats for winter and then preparing for spring. Making improvements to gear.

Its people like Jimmy Mac and Marty who don't seem to recognize that we have a valuable renewable resource that is being neglected by the government.

I am sick and tired of seeing the fisherman in the media with their hands out. Give me, give me, give me, is all you see. These fishermen, for some reason, because Fishing was a NL industry years ago, believe that they have a right to be taken care of. They do not pay Worker's Compensation dues, yet if they get injured on the job, they get their worker's comp payments. Just take a drive around the bay in some of the fishing communities, they live in mansions paid for by us the people who work 50 -52 weeks a year. If I lose my job today, I get a few months EI and I am done, have to look for work myself, tell me FISHERMEN, why should you be any different. Get a real job.

Danny Williams government gives mothers of newborn babies a $1000. each to keep up the population in our province, if Danny doesn`t help resolve the crises in the fishery, then lookout ... there will be one heck of a population drop in this province when everyone related to the fishery will have to move elsewhere

Let the market decide. If the price isn't where it needs to be for everyone to make money..then leave the crab where they are until elements of supply and demand sends it upwards. Government should not be injecting dollars into a food enterprise that isn't valuable enough to consumers that they want to support it.

I dont eat crab so i dont recall offhand what it goes for at the stores but i would tell the fisherman to keep at it. If they really want to see a difference in the fishery they need to do it themselves.

Consumers pay merchants who pay processors who pay fisherman so if the fisherman become the merchants they effectively cut out the middle man and supply and demand goes on without them. Once they realise their greed is costing them money that same greed will result in fairer prices to the fisherman.

Fisherman of Newfoundland yer de hardest workin bunch we got. I knows ye wont have no trouble puttin in a few more hours to sell yer own bitta fish but its da only way outta dis mess now me bys.

Now if any of you fisherman got cod fish you want to sell for what the processors are paying please please please please please come to st.johns and set up shop. Ill be settin up a coleman stove and a cast iron frying pan as fast as you can sell em to me.

Why don't we just put them all in an oven? Like the government doesn't bail out other industries and put money into infrastructure to keep the economy going. We'll see who's sooking and bawling when our oil resources are depleted (which they will) and all the baymen move to St. John's because the fishery collapses. Some hard to find a job then. Fisherman work hard for their money and they pay their dues. I'd like to see some of you complainers/haters/trolls on here spend a couple weeks on a fishing boat. You wouldn't have the guts for it.

hey mac jimmy mac or big mac what ever you preferred to be called . i am offering you the opportunity to come out and fish crab with me for a day just one and lets see what you think .i leave at one in the morning and finish between 8 or 10 at night. give it a try and see you shoot your mouth off then. we only work two to three weeks a year as you say ,ha ha because of government quotas allotted or as you would say handed to us. when we were not on a quota before the cod moratorium our holiday as you say you get would be a break for a week to go in the woods to get a bit of firewood for heat, the rest of the year was spent mending twine or on the water itself.As for the enterprise owners making a fortune try running a boat for one year and i bet the deck hand has more in the bank and less stress on the brain then any owner. but if you want to complain about the tax payers dollars and where its going , go to any club and whine to all the slots machine players and drinkers that are there each and every day while they wait for their next wack cheque

I agree 100% with Jimmy Mac. I'm sick of these guys working a few weeks a year then sitting on there butts the rest of the year on the wack. The taxpayers don't want to support you, you have no public support, only those in your own corrupt ring. Stop sooking and get a real job. Time to grow up boys.

Wack Marty?...Wack, I dear say if your for fathers could hear you you'd get wack right up side the head! Never judge a man until you've walked in his shoes. The fishery is no hand out my son, it's labour of love which apparently you know nothing about. As for tax payers we pay our fine share too and then some. Maybe if you think there's nothing to it, give it a try and see if you can last 2 weeks. If you survive the sea sickness, wind, weather and all the other dangers associated with it and you live to tell about it, (without sooking) as you call it maybe you're option will change and you will see who has the real job in the end.

I guess jimmy Mac dosent realize that the fishery is the backbone of this province,it might be taking 2nd place to the oil industry right now but oil will run out and the fishery will always be here and will be here till the end of time no matter what we will be catching.There are alot of people that depend on this industry and the province depends on it,if they want to admit it or not.Also for a small fortune in a couple of weeks,this man is very mislead about the people in this fishery.I fish for 7 to 8 months of the year and some times more,there are enterprise owners that make the big fortune not the guy on the deck of the boat.So reasearch the fishery a little more before you complain about it,or this guy will probably be at the confederation building next week complaining about his pension plan which is more than likley paid for by our tax dollars.

In the past the fishery may have been the back bone to the NL economy but in my lifetime (50 years) it has not been. People have only stayed in the industry because of the custom UI and other taxation changes that have entitled them to support themselves on a few weeks work a year.

jimmy mac maybe all the fisherman should go on the welfare program so u would take care of us u pay taxes i pay more taxes in 5months yes the fishery lasts 5 months not a few weeks.i pay more taxes in 5months then you do in the whole year and for your information when ui is drawd taxes still come out of it to help the people that are afraid to work.why don;'t you compain abot something worth complain about. must be sad for you to work all year around with no problems of your own

Nasty

July 02, 2010 - 13:11

This is what they should do every weekend. Fish Market at Confederation Building. I know many people that would be more then happy to purchase fresh products right from the fishermen over super markets.

The fishery is hardly the backbone of this province. If you want to insist on making an analogy to a body part, I would say it's more like the province's appendix - something that has always been there but is now pretty much useless.

For the record, working seven or eight months a year is hardly anything to brag about either. Those of use with real jobs work the full twelve with a couple of weeks off for vacation.

Here's a reply to Jimmy Mac.
IF you are as you say fed up with the culture and entitlement of the fishermen how do you think those fishermen feel. They are not allowed to fish when they want. The gov't have that many restrictions on when, where and what they can fish, the fishermen can only do what they are told.
How would you feel if the NL gov't went in tomorrow and took a teacher's chair away and tell them that they have to stand all day? Or if they told another worker that they only can eat at a certain time of day, in a certain place and only a certain meal? Then and only then will others feel like a fisherman feels.
This job puts alot of bread and butter on peoples tables. Without money coming from the fishery where do the fish plant workers go ? How does the store owners make a living? What do the truck drivers do? I guess on Good Friday you had fish from a can that came from Japan somewhere. If you didn't have it, you better try it because if all the fishermen gives up fishing you will have to get used to it. Then again you may have eaten chicken from a farmer and I guess you can complain about them too.

The fishery is passed down to generations as the years go on. For some people, they are just trying to keep their heritage and culture alive. There will always be some amount of fish in the waters, and to a Newfoundlander, fish is a regular part of our diet. Although it is not eaten everyday, it is still enjoyed. I think the people that have to rude comments and remarks on the subject, need to look back to their relatives who were in the fishing industry, and ask themselves.. do I want my culture and heritage preserved ?

Here we go again with fisherman!Premier Williams needs to establish a Minister for Fishermen Handouts to handle this situation. For sure this minister would be extremely busy writing cheques because everyone knows fishermen are entitled to be paid by taxpayers when the fishery, EI or Workers Comp isn't.

It would be interesting to see how this income is reported on his books next year....hahahaha. The crab fishermen ruined themselves with the under the table bonuses and landing more than was reported and flooded the market....the processors were in on it too. I'm not saying all of them but it was a high percentage. Now the processors can't pay $1.35 for it because they can't sell it after it is processed. What a bunch!!!!

I'm curious....do the people who have issue with Fishermen getting EI also take issue with teachers receiving EI?

Newfoundlanders are the least supportive folk...to outsiders we talk big about our love of the rock, how we love our home, but to each other we talk each other down to the dirt. A lot of poor pitiful me, and shutting down our fellow man.

One of our biggest problems is that we don't take time to understand the issue before we cast our stones to condemn.

It is very sad to read comments from people who choose not to understand the fishery and the importance of it to this province. This is not an industry like others because it is so over regulated by Government that it does not allow for free enterprise. You would need to be interested enough to take the time and see what really goes on. Imagine being told you have to cut 6 inches of your boat to meet some stupid rule that governs you. Being told who to sell your product to limits your market. Fishermen pay for observers who board their boats and come out to watch them fish and have no choice about it. It isn't any ordinary business. However those who risk their lives ,do it with pride that comes from living on the water, from being a Newfoundlander. If Ottawa had not almost destroyed our industry and there is evidence in the Commons Fisheries Report of 1990 that documents bribery, mismanagement and called for removal of officals, then those Newfoundlanders that are so critical would be basking in the glory of it now. So do we destroy the rest of it. Danny Williams should not go down as the Premier that done nothing and fellow Newfounlanders should try explaining this to future generations when the oil is gone.

Why should government provide $, why don't the union provide what they are looking for!!!
Its's their union, the FFAW just bought and in process of renovating their own office building. What looks wrong with this picture. If i lost my job next week, its EI and i am then on my own, no one to look after me. Big union, big pay all from poor fisherman.

You know if the fishery is so bad and every year the fisherman have to face the same issues why do they stay in the industry? Answer.... It is a no lose proposition. In the good times you can make a small fortune for a few weeks work a year and then draw down UIC for the winter months and in the bad years you can bark and complain like they are now and expect the government to either support them or change the UI criteria to give them benefits for the next year. Look, the fishery is a private industry. It either swims or sinks on its own. The rest of the working class of this province is fed up with both the culture of entitlement of the fisherman and will not accept this bull any longer. If you can't make a living as you claim, go find a job that will support you don't look for handouts.

I drove to the Confederation Building to purchase crab this morning, I arrived around 10:30 and they were completely sold out.

The harvesters were apparently selling it for $1.35 per pound, I was quite willing to pay $2.00 per pound had I been able to purchase some. Two dollars ($2.00) per pound is the price, I understand, the fishers of the Maritimes are getting.

My question is why don't the harvesters sell a portion of their produce fresh to consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

At least we would be buying the fish at its freshest and much cheaper and, no doubt, purer than it would be if it were sent to China to be processed , in a country with 75 percent of its water polluted.

Not for the life of me do I understand why we aren't offered fresh fish?

I know several fishermen and women personally...they don't sit on their rumps all winter waiting for the EI cheques to roll in. They are mending pots and nets, preparing boats for winter and then preparing for spring. Making improvements to gear.

Its people like Jimmy Mac and Marty who don't seem to recognize that we have a valuable renewable resource that is being neglected by the government.

I am sick and tired of seeing the fisherman in the media with their hands out. Give me, give me, give me, is all you see. These fishermen, for some reason, because Fishing was a NL industry years ago, believe that they have a right to be taken care of. They do not pay Worker's Compensation dues, yet if they get injured on the job, they get their worker's comp payments. Just take a drive around the bay in some of the fishing communities, they live in mansions paid for by us the people who work 50 -52 weeks a year. If I lose my job today, I get a few months EI and I am done, have to look for work myself, tell me FISHERMEN, why should you be any different. Get a real job.

Danny Williams government gives mothers of newborn babies a $1000. each to keep up the population in our province, if Danny doesn`t help resolve the crises in the fishery, then lookout ... there will be one heck of a population drop in this province when everyone related to the fishery will have to move elsewhere

Let the market decide. If the price isn't where it needs to be for everyone to make money..then leave the crab where they are until elements of supply and demand sends it upwards. Government should not be injecting dollars into a food enterprise that isn't valuable enough to consumers that they want to support it.

I dont eat crab so i dont recall offhand what it goes for at the stores but i would tell the fisherman to keep at it. If they really want to see a difference in the fishery they need to do it themselves.

Consumers pay merchants who pay processors who pay fisherman so if the fisherman become the merchants they effectively cut out the middle man and supply and demand goes on without them. Once they realise their greed is costing them money that same greed will result in fairer prices to the fisherman.

Fisherman of Newfoundland yer de hardest workin bunch we got. I knows ye wont have no trouble puttin in a few more hours to sell yer own bitta fish but its da only way outta dis mess now me bys.

Now if any of you fisherman got cod fish you want to sell for what the processors are paying please please please please please come to st.johns and set up shop. Ill be settin up a coleman stove and a cast iron frying pan as fast as you can sell em to me.

Why don't we just put them all in an oven? Like the government doesn't bail out other industries and put money into infrastructure to keep the economy going. We'll see who's sooking and bawling when our oil resources are depleted (which they will) and all the baymen move to St. John's because the fishery collapses. Some hard to find a job then. Fisherman work hard for their money and they pay their dues. I'd like to see some of you complainers/haters/trolls on here spend a couple weeks on a fishing boat. You wouldn't have the guts for it.

hey mac jimmy mac or big mac what ever you preferred to be called . i am offering you the opportunity to come out and fish crab with me for a day just one and lets see what you think .i leave at one in the morning and finish between 8 or 10 at night. give it a try and see you shoot your mouth off then. we only work two to three weeks a year as you say ,ha ha because of government quotas allotted or as you would say handed to us. when we were not on a quota before the cod moratorium our holiday as you say you get would be a break for a week to go in the woods to get a bit of firewood for heat, the rest of the year was spent mending twine or on the water itself.As for the enterprise owners making a fortune try running a boat for one year and i bet the deck hand has more in the bank and less stress on the brain then any owner. but if you want to complain about the tax payers dollars and where its going , go to any club and whine to all the slots machine players and drinkers that are there each and every day while they wait for their next wack cheque

I agree 100% with Jimmy Mac. I'm sick of these guys working a few weeks a year then sitting on there butts the rest of the year on the wack. The taxpayers don't want to support you, you have no public support, only those in your own corrupt ring. Stop sooking and get a real job. Time to grow up boys.

Wack Marty?...Wack, I dear say if your for fathers could hear you you'd get wack right up side the head! Never judge a man until you've walked in his shoes. The fishery is no hand out my son, it's labour of love which apparently you know nothing about. As for tax payers we pay our fine share too and then some. Maybe if you think there's nothing to it, give it a try and see if you can last 2 weeks. If you survive the sea sickness, wind, weather and all the other dangers associated with it and you live to tell about it, (without sooking) as you call it maybe you're option will change and you will see who has the real job in the end.

I guess jimmy Mac dosent realize that the fishery is the backbone of this province,it might be taking 2nd place to the oil industry right now but oil will run out and the fishery will always be here and will be here till the end of time no matter what we will be catching.There are alot of people that depend on this industry and the province depends on it,if they want to admit it or not.Also for a small fortune in a couple of weeks,this man is very mislead about the people in this fishery.I fish for 7 to 8 months of the year and some times more,there are enterprise owners that make the big fortune not the guy on the deck of the boat.So reasearch the fishery a little more before you complain about it,or this guy will probably be at the confederation building next week complaining about his pension plan which is more than likley paid for by our tax dollars.

In the past the fishery may have been the back bone to the NL economy but in my lifetime (50 years) it has not been. People have only stayed in the industry because of the custom UI and other taxation changes that have entitled them to support themselves on a few weeks work a year.

This is what they should do every weekend. Fish Market at Confederation Building. I know many people that would be more then happy to purchase fresh products right from the fishermen over super markets.

The fishery is hardly the backbone of this province. If you want to insist on making an analogy to a body part, I would say it's more like the province's appendix - something that has always been there but is now pretty much useless.

For the record, working seven or eight months a year is hardly anything to brag about either. Those of use with real jobs work the full twelve with a couple of weeks off for vacation.

Here's a reply to Jimmy Mac.
IF you are as you say fed up with the culture and entitlement of the fishermen how do you think those fishermen feel. They are not allowed to fish when they want. The gov't have that many restrictions on when, where and what they can fish, the fishermen can only do what they are told.
How would you feel if the NL gov't went in tomorrow and took a teacher's chair away and tell them that they have to stand all day? Or if they told another worker that they only can eat at a certain time of day, in a certain place and only a certain meal? Then and only then will others feel like a fisherman feels.
This job puts alot of bread and butter on peoples tables. Without money coming from the fishery where do the fish plant workers go ? How does the store owners make a living? What do the truck drivers do? I guess on Good Friday you had fish from a can that came from Japan somewhere. If you didn't have it, you better try it because if all the fishermen gives up fishing you will have to get used to it. Then again you may have eaten chicken from a farmer and I guess you can complain about them too.

The fishery is passed down to generations as the years go on. For some people, they are just trying to keep their heritage and culture alive. There will always be some amount of fish in the waters, and to a Newfoundlander, fish is a regular part of our diet. Although it is not eaten everyday, it is still enjoyed. I think the people that have to rude comments and remarks on the subject, need to look back to their relatives who were in the fishing industry, and ask themselves.. do I want my culture and heritage preserved ?